Maugham in the Middle
One thing that comes through clearly in this new biography by Jeffrey Meyers is that W. Somerset Maugham was not an easy man to know. …
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Second Thoughts about Hitler’s Sexual History
THE ASSERTION that Hitler may have been homosexual was made by German historian Lothar Machtan in his 2001 book, The Hidden Hitler [reviewed and debated in the Jan.-Feb. and May-June 2002 issues]. Although dismissed by most experts as poor history based on hearsay and speculation, this book was used as the basis for a new HBO documentary, The Hidden Fuehrer. …
MoreNot Your Average Tennis Champion
The first line of dialogue in Big Bill is “Fifteen-love.” In A.R. Gurney’s bio-drama of the pre-World War II tennis phenomenon, Bill Tilden, it is no accident that the tennis term for zero is the adult emotion that, in Tilden’s life, is essentially absent. …
MoreDemocrats Waffling on Marriage Amendment
You’ve got to hand it to the Bush administration- they take care of their own. From tax breaks for the wealthy to cheating New York City out of 9/11 security funds in favor of “red” states like Wyoming, key Bush constituencies have been rewarded. Perhaps nothing is more glaring, however, than what has been done to cater to the demands of the religious right. …
MoreIs There a Downside to Same-Sex Marriage?
The fact that the gay and lesbian rights movement has put same-sex marriage at the top of its agenda is not hard to fathom: marriage is the hub from which so many of our cultural, legal, economic, and religious institutions extend. … Then why do I think we’ve taken up the wrong battle in fighting for the right to marry? …
MoreElection 2004: This Time, the Stakes Are Real
… There has never been a presidential election where the gulf between the Democratic and Republican nominees on gay issues has been wider, when the stakes for our community have been higher, and when getting out the vote in November has been more important.
MoreSascha Rice on the making of Mango Kiss
The G&LR recently sat down with Rice in her native home town of Los Angeles to discuss the trials and tribulations of a married mom making a lesbian-themed film for her debut feature.
MoreThe Varieties of Greek Love
IT IS OFTEN ASSUMED that same-gender relationships followed a stereotypical pattern and set of protocols in ancient society. In classical Greece this would take the form of pedagogical pederasty associating a man (usually before the age of marriage) and a freeborn boy, while in Rome it would take the form of a merely physical relationship between a Roman citizen and a young slave. However, the texts reveal …
MoreNew Pedagogy on Ancient Pederasty
IT MAY SEEM difficult to say anything new and fresh about same-sex desire and love in the ancient Greek and Roman world. After all, the publication of Sir Kenneth Dover’s Greek Homosexuality in 1978, … was followed by a veritable outpouring of books and articles which continues today. … But, apart from refining what Dover said a quarter-century ago, have any new insights emerged? …
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